Del Monte Foods has reached an agreement to sell its Consumer Products business to Del Monte Pacific Limited for $1.675 billion to focus on its Pet Products division and ensure both segments are positioned for growth in their markets. Upon closing on the deal, Del Monte Foods will change its name to better reflect its new focus on the pet market.

Del Monte will sell its Consumer Products business in order to focus its resources and efforts on continued growth opportunities in its Pet Products business through greater emphasis on pet snacks and the pet specialty channel. This agreement comes after a strategic review that determined a sale of the Consumer Products business provided the best opportunities for the growth and stewardship of the company's two differentiated business portfolios. The company anticipates that the continued heightened importance of pets as a part of the family and higher consumer spending on premium pet products will drive market expansion, building on Del Monte's recent acquisition of specialty petfood brand Natural Balance.

"Over the last two years, we have made significant investments - operationally, strategically and organizationally - to build the Consumer Products and Pet Products segments into businesses capable of capturing the significant opportunity available to each," said Dave West, CEO of Del Monte Foods. "We believe DMPL is the right company to build on the Consumer Products segment's recent success and achieve its next phase of growth, and we look forward to focusing on expanding our Pet Products business, which operates in one of the most attractive categories across the U.S. consumer packaged goods industry."